Marshall faces federal drug charges

Mother also named in grand jury indictments

The owners of the Needful Things stores in Madison were indicted by a federal grand jury in September on drug-related charges.

Julia Marshall, 39, and Rita Smith, 62, had their initial hearings Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky in Lexington.

Marshall and Smith each were indicted on one count of conspiracy to deal synthetic drugs and Marshall was indicted on another count of possession of a synthetic drug.

The charges come from search warrants that were executed in July 2012. At the time, Indiana law enforcement agencies were investigating Marshall for allegedly dealing synthetic drugs out of the stores.

Officers executed search warrants at her home and two stores in Jefferson County, and they also executed warrants at three locations in Kentucky.

The first was Smith's home, at 83 Cable Lane in Milton. The other two were locations Marshall was suspected to have purchased so she could open a new store in Carrollton. Those addresses were 114 Third St. and 209 Highland Ave., both in Carrollton.

Authorities seized more than $271,000 in cash and almost four pounds of synthetic drugs at the three Kentucky addresses, according to the charging documents.

The indictment also requests for the $271,370 police found to be forfeited to the government because it is considered drug money.

Marshall and Smith face a penalty of not more than 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine.